The unexpected release of the latest DLC for God of War has enriched Credos' journey on PlayStation 5. Since the beginning of the PlayStation 2 era, God of War has been one of Sony's flagship series, covering its wide range of consoles and handhelds. The last two generations of consoles have seen a sort of reinvention of the series, starting with a 2018 soft reboot simply titled God of War. However, the Valhalla DLC for God of War: Ragnarok comes into direct conflict with the earlier entries in the series, most of which are playable on PS5.
This series began in 2005 with the original ** game God of War on PS2. The player takes on the role of Credos, who was once the commander and great warrior of the Greek god of war, Ares. Tragedy befalls Credos when Ares tricks him into killing his wife and daughter, and in this way Ares hopes to free Credos from his emotional ties and become a greater killer. Credos' anger and violent revenge for Ares' betrayal was the narrative impetus that started the series, which currently has eight games in the series, with a ninth coming soon. Six of these eight games can be played on PS5, while the two least related ones are unplayable.
God of War: Ragnarok aims to improve on every flaw of its predecessor while delivering a compelling story set in a highly reimagined saga.
Every console release in the God of War series can be played on PlayStation 5, although there are some restrictions. Only three are directly supported - God of War 3: Remastered, God of War (2018) and God of War: Ragnarok. God of War 3: Remake and the 2018 soft reboot are both native PS4 games, and after the 2021 PS5 patch for God of War, they will run at 60 frames per second on Sony's latest console. God of War: Ragnarok is a cross-generational title that can be played on PS4 and PS5.
Unfortunately, God of War 3 is the only former PS4 game in the series that has been remastered and is directly compatible with PS4. It's arguably the best of the original fixed-perspective games, so God of War 3 isn't a bad place to start, but anyone who wants to play through the entire mainline series will need to take advantage of something else. In order to play the original God of War, God of War 2 and God of War Rise on PS5, a subscription to PlayStation Plus Premium is required, which gives you access to the classic catalog.
The classic catalog of Premium has HD versions of the first two games, which were remastered for PlayStation 3 and must be streamed on PS5. The same is true for Rise, which has never been ported or remastered on other platforms. PS3 games are a pain point for PS5 backward compatibility - they can't be **, so in addition to a PS+ Premium subscription, a stable internet connection is required to play God of War (2005), God of War 2 and God of War Rise on PS5.
God of War 3: Remastered, God of War (2018) and God of War: Ragnarok are also included in the PS+ Premium catalog, and the entire console series can be played as long as the subscription is active.